Masquerade
by R.Ryan
Summary: It's only human that we build our shields up to protect us from those who wish to harm us but soon that shield becomes a mask hiding our scars from the world. If we are lucky though, we'll find the one who will see through the mask and see us for who we are, scars and all. Until then, it's just one big masquerade. A/H. Canon. OOC.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.

Chapter One.

Eyes closed.

Deep breath.

The smooth ballads from the one and only Sting played through the speakers in his kitchen. Directly in front of him was his wooden cutting board. To his left, were his professional sharpened knives and to his right were the fresh ingredients that he was planning to use.

After taking a minute to formulate a plan for his new recipe, Edward quickly tied a black apron to his waist and threw a lily white kitchen towel onto his shoulder.

With practiced ease and precision, he quickly filleted the cod fish and then placed the fillets onto a paper towel to dry off.

To Edward, cooking was an art and took great pleasure out of it.

At the age of thirty-five, he had a life many could only dream about. As one of the world's top chefs and the owner of several five-star restaurants, Edward had climbed to the top of the culinary through his own strength of will.

That was what he had built his empire from. He could still remember, in striking clarity, the day his father and mother turned him out of their home and their lives as his brother and their wives stood by, their gleeful smirks barely hidden.

As the eldest of their three sons, Marcus and Esme Masen placed all of their expectations onto Edward's shoulders, but try as they might, he would not conform to what they wanted. He, even at the age of eighteen, was who he was and he made no apologies for it.

It was his refusal to attend Harvard University that truly ignited his father's wrath. After all, all of the first sons born into the Masen family attended Harvard. It was what was expected of them and it was what was done.

After that, it seemed like all Edward did was rebel. He was supposed to be a lawyer and take up a partnership role in the family owned firm but he refused. He was supposed to be wed to the daughter of one of their close family friend but he refused, saying that he would only marry a woman he loved.

It was very easy for Esme to simply move on from her son's blatant disregard for the family's traditions but not her husband. Marcus hated it and at every possible moment he would berate Edward for his choices. _"No man should want to cook for the rest of his life,"_ Marcus would shout. _"That's a woman's job." _

Though, no matter the vitriol that Marcus would spew at his eldest, Edward never once yelled back or fought back in any way. Edward understood or at least he wanted to believe that his father's words came from a place of concern and that his anger came from his frustration to change his son's mind when it came to his path in life. As young as he was, Edward knew that he only way that he could bring comfort to his father was by being a success but it was a success that his father would never see.

A massive heart attack two days after his birthday took his father from this world leaving his mother a widow and him and his brothers fatherless.

Edward mourned. He missed meals and spent nights awake. The regret that his father would not see the success of his eldest crippled him but he placed one foot in front of the other and moved on because his mother needed him.

It was only at his father's will reading that Edward truly understood the saying that you could love someone but not like them. From his father all he got was ten thousand dollars but even so, he would have given it back to have his father with him.

His brothers and their wives inherited everything else from the house to law office and it took them only ten minutes after the will reading was done to tell Edward that he needed to grab his belongings and leave because he was no longer welcome in their family. After all, it was his stubbornness that placed so much stress on their father that led to his heart attack.

Foolishly, he had hoped that his mother would have put a stop to his disownment but grief makes people do things they never thought they would and her refusal to look him in his eyes was enough for him to know that he was no longer welcomed in their home and their family.

So at the age of twenty-three, all he had was ten thousand dollars, a dream and the determination to make something of himself.

Now, twelve years later, life was good. He was a success.

In those twelve years, however, he had to watch with a broken heart as the wealth his father had built up was reduced to nothing. From the sale of his family's law firm to the sale of his childhood house, Edward was powerless to stop it. Nothing of his father's legacy remained and his brothers had gone through all of their money and now lived paycheck to paycheck.

Though he was still the black sheep of the family, it did not prevent his siblings for asking him for money for his mother's health care. After her stroke, Edward willingly gave of himself and his money, sitting with her daily in the hospital even though she never said a word to him and for the past five years he had been paying for a home-care nurse to be with her daily.

Yes, much had happened to him in the last twelve years but now all he was focused on was the finished dish in front of him: Pecan crusted cod with roasted vegetables. It would be perfect for his new restaurant but just as he was able to place the first succulent bite into his mouth, his door bell rang.

With a furrowed brow, he carefully placed his fork down and made his way to the door. His confusion deepened as he spied a young woman outside through one of the windows.

"May I help you?" he asked just as he opened the door.

"Yes," the beautiful mystery brunette replied, "are you by chance Mr. Edward Masen?"

"I am," he responded, opening the door out more fully.

"Good day, I am Isabella Swan. I'm here to talk to you about your mother, Esme Masen," she smiled at him.

"My mother? Are you her home-care nurse?" he asked, slightly puzzled

"Nurse?" Isabella muttered, her own brow furrowing. "No, Mr. Masen. I think there has been some sort of misunderstanding. You mother has been in hospice care for the last five years."

"Hospice? Ms. Swan I think you may have the wrong person," he responded, folding his arms across his chest.

"No. I think I have the right person. Mr. Masen, I have just committed career suicide by searching you out but I had too. I got your information from the folder on your mother. I believe your brothers were responsible for her admittance to the facility." Isabella said softly.

"If what you are telling me is true, why are you here?" Edward questioned, his mind reeling.

"I'm here because your mother needs help and your brothers and their wife's seem to simply want her dead," Isabella said with ill-concealed rage.

"That is a dangerous claim," Edward said heatedly.

"I know but I have proof," Isabella muttered, reaching for a folder in her purse.

"Is that so? Then maybe you should come in," Edward muttered as he stepped aside and allowed the tiny brunette to enter.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.

Chapter Two.

Edward was very skeptical about the petite woman who he had just allowed to enter his home. With his past being as jaded as it was, he admittedly had a hard time trusting people but for the sake of his mother, he was not about to allow his skepticism prevent him from hearing this woman out.

While closing the door, he took a few seconds to look at the woman. At about 5 feet 6 inches, she was what he would consider to be a healthy size, not overly thin but at the same time, she was not overweight either. Had this been any other time, he would be salivating over the soft curves of her body, from her full breast to her perfectly shaped behind. He was a man after all.

"Um…," Isabella hesitated, after the slight pause as an uneasy feeling settled around them.

"My apologies, Ms. Swan," Edward muttered, pulling himself away from his thoughts. "May we take this conversation to the dining room? I was just about to have dinner and I would love for you to join me."

"Oh gosh! I am so sorry for interrupting your dinner. If you want, I can wait outside in my car until you are finished," she said softly as the warmth of the house seeped into her skin causing it to take on a lovely pink hue.

"Ms. Swan," Edward interrupted the rambling woman, "It is quite alright that you have interrupted my dinner. I do know that the expected thing for me to do is simply forget about my dinner until you have left but I simply cannot do that. I have always been one to offer a meal to anyone who has come to my home, stranger or not. It is also late in the evening so I am sure you will appreciate a warm meal. Please do not think that you are putting me out of my way. I am a chef by profession and it gives me great joy to cook for others."

"Thank you, then. I guess I can't say no after that," Isabella smiled.

"Good. This way please," he motioned for her to follow him. "Do you have any food allergies?"

"Not that I know of," Isabella responded absentmindedly as she was too busy taking in the beauty of his home. "It's so beautiful. It's modern but so homey."

"Thank you, Ms. Swan," he spoke, all the while fighting back the chuckle that threatened to escape as he took in her awed look.

Blushing slightly, Isabella stood uncertainly at door way to the dinner room, unsure of where to sit. If she was being honest with herself, she had been thrown of kilter since the moment Mr. Masen answered the door in all his 6 feet seven inches, muscular glory. There should be a law against all men whose chest was built so perfectly that you could count each and every one of his muscles. Forget the six pack. Mr. Masen was carrying a twelve pack and being the hormonal, sexual creature that she was, Isabella just wanted to lick each one of them like a candy cane.

"Since I would like to see the proof you brought, may I suggest that we sit together?" Edward asked as he pulled out a chair somewhat in the center of his table.

"That would be fine, Mr. Masen," Isabella agreed, taking out the file from her purse before making her way to the table and sitting on the seat that Edward had pulled out for her.

After she was seated, Edward made his way to the kitchen and quickly plated other serving of the pecan-crusted cod and roasted vegetables and placed it on a tray that held his own plate and a pitched of sweetened ice tea that he had made early in the day.

"Here we go, Ms. Swan," he muttered as he re-entered the dining room and took a seat next to Isabella.

Quickly, he passed Isabella a plate and poured her a drink before doing the same to himself. He was touched to see Isabella waiting on him to serve himself.

"Well then, Ms. Swan," Edward said holding up his glass to her, "I have done a lot of crazy things in my life but I think this takes the cake. Cheers."

Giggling softly, Isabella returned his sentiment before taking a bite of her food.

"This is absolutely delicious, Mr. Masen," Isabella complimented as she all but bit her tongue to prevent herself from moaning out loud.

"Thank you, Ms. Swan," Edward nodded, "but would it be too rude of me to ask you what is going on and why you are here?"

"Not at all, Mr. Masen," Isabella responded after a quick sip of her iced tea, "Firstly let me start by saying that I am a RN. Two weeks ago, I began working at Second Chances Hospice. It's not a bad institution at all. The patients there are really well cared for. The staff are kind and they truly do want to help the patients to get back on their feet so that they can live some measure of life."

I met your mother on my fourth day there and while going through her file, I was stunned. In her file, it was written that she had suffered a stroke but still was mobile. I couldn't work out why she was there. If she had her mobility, it would mean that she had some level of independence so why was she there?" Isabella said softly, clearing her throat before she continued.

"That question was answered as I continued to read through the file. Within months of being admitted, your mother could no longer walk and after checking her out myself I came to the conclusion that somewhere along the line something was going very wrong with your mother's care.

Now as an RN, I had no access to the costing for you mother's care just her medical information but one night when I was working alone, I took a peek at the billings department. As payee for you mother's care, you were listed," Isabella said as she pulled out a print out of the information that she was telling him before she continued, "but that I noticed was that you were paying almost triple the amount that any other patient was paying."

"What?" Edward choked out, his eyes narrowing.

"At Second Chances, a patient pay about six thousand a month and that covers mostly everything except any medicines that are needed. Those are covered by insurance companies. You, Mr. Masen are paying sixteen thousand a month. That is ten thousand more that you are supposed to even though your mother is wheel-chair bound. Foolishly, I thought that it was just a mix up and that you money would be refunded as soon as I told them about it but I should have known that things were more convoluted than it seemed.

The next day just as I was about to go and speak with management, all the while, fully expecting to be reprimanded because I shouldn't have been anywhere near billings, an patient stopped me and told me that I needed to check on your mother. So I changed course and went to check on your mother and what I found was this." Isabella all but whispered as she pulled out a picture showing what she had seen.

"Oh God!" Edward cried out, his throat convulsing on itself to keep him from throwing up. "How did she get this?" he asked, gently fingering the bleeding wound that was captured by Isabella.

"At that time, I didn't know and your mother would not say. It took eight stitches to close up that gash but it was the position of the gash that had me a bit puzzled. You don't get a wound like that on your shoulder and if she had fallen out of bed then she would have still been on the ground when I got there but she was on her bed with her sheets tucked in around her," Isabella responded, pushing her meal away from her as the heaviness of the conversation seemed to chase her hunger away.

"Normally, after tending to you mother, I would call in our orderlies to change her sheets and clean of all the blood from her but that day, I decided to do it and what I found were these," Isabella said softly, pushing over the pictures of all the bruises that littered Mrs. Masen's skin.

The roar of fury that left Edward's mouth was not human. His rage swept through him like a tsunami. Suddenly standing up, he sent his chair crashing onto the floor as he ran to get his phone.

"Mr. Masen what are you doing?" Isabella gasped.

"Calling my brothers to get my mother out of there," Edward spat.

"No, you can't do that," Isabella all but screamed as she scrambling over to Edward and pressing down onto the little button on his phone, quickly disconnecting the call.

"And why the hell can I not do that, Ms. Swan?" Edward muttered heated, yanking the phone away from her grasp.

"Because they are in on it," Isabella screamed back, stunning Edward into silence.

"What did you just say?" Edward questioned after a few minutes to silence.

"Your brothers are in on it," Isabella whispered back. "I knew your siblings and their wives visited from the visitors' log so my initial plan was to go to them. You paid for her care but in my mind you never showed up so you clearly didn't care. That day though, the same day when all of this is going on, your sisters-in-law showed up around noon and went to visit your mother. I waited until the coast was clear until I snuck down to talk to them but just as I was about to turn down the corridor, my employer walks down the corridor and into your mother's room. I give it a few minutes and then I went too." Isabella whispered, hastily wiping her own tears away before going for her phone. "I would be easier if you just watched what I taped." She said softly, handing Edward her phone.

His hand trembled as he took the phone. It was difficult for him to control his anger but he knew that he needed to hear the entire truth before he did anything.

As the video began playing, he could see his sisters-in-law Rosalie and Alice, standing by his mother's bed, both of them dressed in designer clothing which stunned him because he knew they lived from paycheck to paycheck.

"_So ladies, here is your money as usual," a blond-haired man smirked as he handed over a thick envelope which Alice slipped into her purse._

"_Thanks, Jamie," Alice crooned at the man with a flirtatious wink._

"_You're welcome, my dear and Victoria says thank you as well. I never knew that it was so easy to make an extra four grand," Jamie crooned back with a sinister smirk._

"_Yeah well, it was so easy to manipulate Marcus and this bitch into hating Edward and it was even easier to get all their money but on the down side we got stuck with her," Rosalie spat, looking at Esme with a cold glare._

"_But she'll kick the bucket soon," Alice said in an almost comforting manner to her sister-in-law._

"_Hopefully," Rosalie added with a roll of her eyes. "But not too soon because I am loving all that money we're getting from Edward."_

"_They really were a stupid pair," Alice said to Jamie, "Their son, Edward…..the one we are robbing blind….he worshipped them. He would have done anything for them. I mean….the poor guy thinks this woman hates him but he still pays for her medical bills and everything. Do you know he shows up at the house and tries to see her every month but we always get him to leave when we say that he was hurting her?" _

"_He loves them," Rosalie continued before she slapped Esme on the back of her head. "Don't you feel like a dumbass now? Allowing us to get rid of the only child who gave a shit about you. Anyway Jamie, we'll see you next month after you cash that cheque."_

The last thing Edward saw before the video ended was a lone tear spilling from his mother's eye.

That tear caused his anger to re-ignite without mercy, causing him to throw Isabella's phone clear across the room. She cringed, helpless watching as her phone shattered against the wall but was also thankful that she had the good sense to save the video on her computer.

"Ms. Swan, what did you mean when you said that you had committed career- suicide?" Edward questioned, his voice surprisingly calm despite the way his body trembled with anger.

"Um," Isabella began shakily, thrown by his question, "what I showed you was confidential and when you go after all those involved, there is no doubt in my mind that I will get reprimanded."

"Then I ask you to join me," Edward stated, walking out of the room to get his coat.

"Where are we going?" Isabella hesitantly followed.

"We are going to get my mother and since it is safe to say that you will be unemployed, then I will be hiring you to care for my mother," Edward rambled off as he made his way out the front door.

"And what about your family?" Isabella asked cautiously, following him out to his car.

"I will deal with them in time. My first priority is my mother," Edward responded as he opened the front passenger seat door for Isabella.

After she was seated, Edward made his way over to the driver's side, quickly got in and started the car.

As the made their way onto the road, Isabella was stunned to see Edward calling someone.

"Who are you calling at twelve at night?" Isabella asked, before clamping her mouth shut after she realized how inappropriate her question was.

"My attorney," Edward answered smoothly.

"At twelve in the night?" Isabella repeated.

"Ms. Swan, as disgustingly arrogant as I am about to sound, I have to say this. I am a very wealthy man. When people see me, they do not see the journey I took to get to where I am in life. They simply see a man who is worth millions and there are certain connotations that goes along with being seen as such. One of those connotations is being powerful so if a powerful man calls you at twelve at night, you better bet that that attorney is getting is ass up."

"Oh….well you will want one at Second Chances when we get there," Isabella muttered.

"No, he isn't for me. He's for you. There are no words that I can use to thank you for what you did today but I can start by ensuring that you face as little ramifications if any at all for what you did," Edward said softly as he rapidly shifted gears as they sped across the asphalt.

"Oh," Isabella reeled back in shock, "Thank you.

"Think nothing of it," Edward said as he once again changed the gear, "besides, what I have in store for everyone else takes time."

"And what's that?" Isabella whispered, turning her head to look at the profile the green-eyed man.

"Destroying them."


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.

Chapter 3.

A journey that usually took four hours was completed in three hours and fifteen minutes. Some time during the trip, Isabella drifted off into a restless sleep while Edward spent every minute on his iPhone with his attorney.

As he brought his car to a smooth stop in front of the closed gates of the hospice, he took his time looking at the woman sleeping in the seat next to him. He owed her. Not many people would speak up or try to right a wrong especially when they had so much to lose, but from his understanding of what he had learned that night, she never hesitated to do the right thing no matter how high the price she would have to pay but as far as he was concerned, she would not have to pay for anything.

His attorney, Jason Jenks, was already looking into what Isabella had informed him of and had promised to have a planned out course of action for Edward by the end of the day. Jason also told Edward that he would need a copy of Isabella's contract that she had signed with the hospice to be prepared in case the hospice tried to sue her for breach of contract but there would be time for all of that.

Right now, all he was concerned about was getting his mother out of this hospice and into his home.

"Ms. Swan," Edward called gently. "We're here."

With a sleepy sigh, Isabella woke almost immediately. "Sorry for falling asleep on you."

"It's quite alright. How do we get in?" Edward shook his head before looking back at the gates.

"Um….my key card unless they deactivated it," she said, reaching down to grab the plastic rectangle from her purse.

"And why would they do that?" Edward asked, taking the card from her.

"I may have told them that I quit, last night, just before I ran out to get to your house," she said sheepishly.

"Then let's hope for the best then," Edward said as he rolled down his glass to scan the card.

A relieved sigh left the both of them as the gates opened. After handing the card back to Isabella, Edward started the car up and drove to the spot where he always parked his car, right next to the front door.

"So are we going in there with guns blazing?" Isabella asked as she took out the keys for the front door of the hospice.

"Yes, we are," Edward nodded before stepping out of the car.

In the few seconds that it took Isabella to collect herself, Edward made his way around the car and held the door open for her. She stepped out of the car into the chilled four A.M. air and quickly walked over to the door. Using her key, she had the front door opened and waited for Edward to follow her in before she closed the door behind them.

"Bella?" the night nurse, Maria, called out to her, clearly puzzled as to why she was there.

"Hey, Maria," Isabella responded with a soft smile before walking over to the nurse, "Is Mrs. Masen still in Room 103?"

"Um….yeah," the young woman stuttered, her eyes looking at Edward with ill-concealed fear.

"Great." She smiled at the young woman once again before turning to Edward, "Mr. Masen, her room is right down the corridor."

"Bella, what is going on? Who is that?" Maria interjected, her hand hovering over the phone while her eyes were fixed on Edward.

"This," Isabella muttered, "is Mrs. Masen's son, Edward and he's going to take her to his home."

"At four in the morning?" Maria rebutted.

"Maria, is it?" Edward interjected, his patience having run out, "I am here for my mother and I am well aware of the time. Now, if you can do me a favour and call your boss and tell him that Edward Masen is here and he is here for his mother."

After that, Edward turned and made his way down the corridor, heading directly to his mother's room. He could hear Isabella following him.

"The door is on your left, Mr. Masen," Isabella called as she struggled to keep up with his long strides.

Forcefully, Edward threw the door open, pausing slightly as his eyes adjusted to the pitch blackness of the room. Isabella, who entered the room only moments behind him, quickly switched on the light.

"Mum," Edward whispered, locking eyes with his mother who had been startled out of her sleep when Isabella turned on the light.

Isabella was helpless to stop the tears that fell from her eyes as she watched Edward's mother soundless sob at the sight of her son, lifting her frail arms as she gestured for him to come to her.

"Hush, mum," Edward crooned to his mother, gently pulling her into his arms as he sat on her bed. "I'm going to take you home with me."

For several minutes, Isabella watched the heartbreaking reunion between mother and son before the need to do something won out. As she moved about the room, she began packing up some of Mrs. Masen's belongings before catching sight of her medical file. Acting quickly, she grabbed the file and raced down the corridor to where the photocopier was located. In no time at all, she had the entire medical file copied because she knew that as soon as they left with Mrs. Masen, the bosses here were going to destroy it.

Making her way back to the room, she was not in the least bit surprised to see Edward still holding his mother to his chest, but the stench in the air let her know that she needed to clean Mrs. Masen up before they got on the road.

"Mr. Masen," Isabella said gently, "I need to clean up Mrs. Masen before we leave."

"Not now," he growled back at her, holding his mother even tighter against him.

"Yes now," she said softly. "It's not good for her to stay soiled because she can get an infection."

Reluctantly, Edward pulled away from his mother and placed her back onto the bed.

"Do you need anything? Help?" he offered, glancing back at Isabella whose arms were already filled with some of the things she would need.

"No. Just give me a few minutes. Maybe you can take some of her bags to the car?" She gestured to a few bags she had already packed.

Nodding, Edward's biceps bulged as he lifted all five bags at once and taking them to the car. Suspiciously, the reception area of the hospice was empty but he gave it no thought.

After he placed the bags in the trunk, he pulled out a blanket he away kept in his car and placed on the driver's seat so that he would be able to drape it over his mother to ensure that she was comfortable.

By the time he got back to his mother's room, Isabella already had his mother cleaned up and changed into a dress ready to go.

"Should I go and get a wheelchair?" Isabella asked hesitantly.

"No," he replied, "I'll carry her."

"Okay then," she said, picking up the last two bags and a pair of slippers that she had left out for Mrs. Masen.

Edward's heart shattered when he lifted his mother into his arms. She was so light. He could feel her bones that were only covered by her thin skin. The only thing that kept him from sobbing was the hand Isabella had placed on his shoulder. It kept him grounded at least until they got his mother out from there.

When they got out to the car, Isabella helped Edward to situate Mrs. Masen in the back seat as best as she could before she ran back into the building to clear out her locker. When she walked back out, she placed a pillow under Mrs. Masen's head before tucking in the blanket around her.

"Will she be alright to make such a long travel?" Edward asked, his concern stemming from how weak his mother was.

"Yes," Isabella nodded, "but we'll need to get some food into her in a bit."

"Alright," he nodded but before he could move to help Isabella into the car, a man grabbed him from behind and attempted to throw him to the ground.

"You piece of shit," the man spat. "Who the hell do you think you are coming in my hospice at four in the morning and removing a patient? And you, Bella…..you're an employee here, but no matter the cops are on their way."

"Who is this, Ms. Swan?" Edward asked though he had a very good idea who he was looking at.

"This is James Hunter, Mr. Cullen. He's also known as Jamie." Just the words of confirmation left Isabella's mouth, Edward's fist went flying and within seconds James was rolling on the floor clutching at his broken nose.

"So you're the piece of shit that was stealing from me? I want my money back, asshole. Every penny," Edward sneered as he crouched down next to the man. "But what I want more is your ass in jail for what you did to my mother….what you allowed people to do to my mother. In the time it took for me to reach here I realized that a lot of people were in on this. You for jacking up the price so that you and my siblings got a couple extra thousand a month to the doctors, nurses and orderlies that turned a blind eye to the bruises on my mother's body. The money means nothing to me. I can make back all that money in a day but my mother…no. That shit won't fly so when the cops get here, tell them where to find me. Better yet, I'll call them myself and at the end of it, I will watch every single one of you rot in prison. I am going to make each one of you pay for what you did to my mother."

With that, Edward helped Isabella into the passenger seat and then got into his seat. After a quick glance at his mother in his rearview mirror to make sure that she was alright, he started up the car and began to drive them home.

"That was intense," Isabella muttered after several minutes of silence but before Edward could say anything else his phone rang.

Absentmindedly, he answered the phone and placed it on speaker.

"Edward Masen," he muttered as he drove onto the freeway.

"What the fuck, Edward," the voice of his brother, Emmett, boomed through the phone.

"I was wondering how long it would take you to call. I'm going to assume that Jasper is there as well as your wives," Edward drawled, his hold on the steering wheel tightening.

"Of course they are and you can't just take our mother. She hates you," Emmett spat.

"I don't really care if she hates me or not. What I care about is the video I was sent today that showed me that there is a little scheme that you are all involved in and I am putting a stop to it today," Edward continued.

"What are you taking about, Edward?" Rosalie spat.

"Ah, Rosalie, I am sure you want to hit me like you hit my mother," Edward growled, "after all she's isn't dying fast enough for you. Right, Alice?"

Silence followed after his words.

"So what are you going to do? Destroy us like you threatened James?" Jasper said.

"Threat? No, I didn't make a threat to James. I made him a promise that I intend to carry out. That hospice is going to be forced to close down and I won't stop until you four are held accountable for what you did," Edward responded in a mild tone.

"Get off your high horse, Edward. You were paying for her to stay there," Rosalie threw in.

"No, I didn't. I paid for her to have a home healthcare worker live with her at her home. It's all documented through the e-mails I shared with Emmett," Edward rebutted.

"You always did try to act like a pit-bull, Edward. What's the worse you can do facing off with two lawyers?" Emmett taunted.

"I can do a lot with a team of lawyers and I'm not going to stop until I feel like you have learnt a lesson so I will never stop. I've got the money to make your lives hell and I plan to do just that. You are right, Emmett, I always _acted_ like a pit-bull, but now I _am_ a pit-bull and I'm aiming for your jugular."


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.

Chapter Four.

After four hours and thirty-seven minutes, Edward pulled into the driveway of his house.

Physically, he was exhausted.

Mentally, he was drained.

Emotionally, he was numb but he knew that he did not have to luxury of stopping. Next to him, Isabella looked just as ragged as he felt. Her eyes were red with exhaustion but still she stayed awake, often turning around in her seat to check on his mother. Thankfully, she had slept through most of the drive home. They had only woken her once when Isabella thought it was time for his mother to have some breakfast.

It was when Edward saw Isabella gently feeding his mother a few spoons of scrambled eggs in the back of his car that Edward felt rush of gratitude towards her. He could see in her eyes that she genuinely cared and she asked him for nothing in return. He bit back the chuckle that threatened to escape him as he remembered the way her eyes had widened when she heard him telling her that he was going to employ her.

"I'm too tired to move," Isabella whispered as she gazed at his well-kept yard that was now becoming visible since the sun had begun to rise.

"So am I," Edward agreed, "but the quicker we get inside, the faster we can sort through everything and get some rest."

"Good for you. I still have to drive home," Isabella muttered.

"No. You can stay here and get some sleep. There are a lot of rooms here," Edward said to her.

"Thank you. I will really appreciate that. Thank the heavens I always keep clothes in my car," Isabella smiled at him before opening her door.

With a smile of his own, Edward handed her the keys to his house, softly asking her to open the front door while he got his mother out of the car.

With some team work, Edward and Isabella had his mother settled comfortably in his bed within minutes.

"We've got some planning to do," Edward whispered as he led them back to his living room.

"Yeah," Isabella sighed tiredly as she gracelessly dropped her onto his couch."Is it possible for me to please get a cup of coffee, Mr. Masen? I'll need it to stay awake."

"Of course," Edward muttered, "but before I do that let's drop all the formal names. My name is Edward. Call me Edward."

"And I'm Isabella but you can call me Bella," she smiled back at him.

By the time Edward got back to the living room with a tray that held their coffees with pots of milk and sugar as well as some scones, Bella had removed her ballet flats and tucked her feet under her as she sat on the couch, her head laying limply against the back of the sofa.

"Milk and sugar?" Edward asked, placing the tray on a table next to where they would be seated.

"Please," Bella whispered sitting up a bit to take the cup from him. "Are those scones?"

"Yes," he nodded, quickly fixing her coffee for her, "they are bacon-cheddar cheese scones. I'm sorry they aren't fresh. I made them yesterday morning and just heated them up a bit."

"Oh, I don't mind," Bella hummed as she accepted the coffee and scone from Edward. "God, this is so good."

Chuckling at her, Edward took his time to eat his scone before he began to drink his coffee.

"So plans," Bella said, looking at Edward. "I think the first thing we need to do is have your mom looked at by a doctor. You already know what I have seen but I've only been there for two weeks so I can't tell you about anything that occurred before that and even though I copied her file, we don't know what they didn't put there to keep things hidden."

"I agree with you. I was planning to call my doctor and ask him to pass by and based on what he tells us, we'll know where to go with her," Edward said, looking in the direction of his room. "We'll also need to fix up a room for her. I have many guestrooms but I know that it will be necessary to alter the room to better cater to her needs."

"You'll have too," Bella nodded in agreement. "From what I have seen, I think we can get her back to a place where she can walk on her own and if my assumptions are correct, we'll have a lot of work to do with regards to her in the future. She'll need a physical therapist at the very less. The loss of her speaking ability may have resulted from the stroke or from her treatment at the hospice. The doctor will be able to tell you which it is."

"Okay," Edward nodded. "I can understand all that. Now about you."

"Me?" Bella gasped. "What about me?"

"The hospice is going to come after you," Edward stated.

"Yeah, I know," she whispered, looking down at her cup.

"But I am going to do everything in my power to keep the damage to a minimum. That is if you will have to face any repercussion at all," he continued as if Bella had not interrupted him.

"Thank you but I knew what I was getting myself into, Edward and I would do it all over again. I'll admit that I really should have gone through the complaints board but I came to you because I did not know how high up the corruption went," Bella confessed.

"Whatever be the reason, I will help you. My attorney asked for a copy of the contract you signed," he said with a shake of his head. "He may also need it when it comes to dealing with the hospice too."

"No problem," Bella shrugged. "I have a copy home and I have several copies of the video I showed you. Thank God for that since my phone didn't make it," Bella added on with a smirk.

"Sorry about that," Edward winced. "I'll be happy to replace it. I just lost my cool."

"I understand," Bella smiled as she waved him off. "That also let me know that I had made the right choice."

"Still, I'll pay for you to get a new one. And talking about pay," he trailed off.

"Um…..you can pay me what I made at the hospice," Bella shrugged.

"And that is?" Edward prompted.

"Four thousand a month," Bella stated but stopped short when she saw how Edward's eyes bulged. "Too much?" she asked hesitantly.

"No," Edward shook his head. "Too little. Is that all? Really?"

"Yeah," she shrugged, drinking down the last of her coffee.

"Bella, do you understand how much work I am asking you to take on?" Edward questioned, sitting up in his seat. "I am asking you to help me take care of my mother twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week and after that run in with the hospice, I am very hesitant to hire anyone else to help you out. So it will be just me and you and I have absolutely no idea how to even begin to help you. Maybe if I was not a man, then I would be more involved when it comes to her care but I simply can't. Cleaning her up, giving her baths…..all of that will be on you. If you need me to lift her or move her about, then I can do that but anything that may embarrass my mother by having me do it, will be left to you. Also, there is the medical side of it. Therapy if needed. Doctors' visits. All of that, I am asking you to do. No holidays. No time off. Nothing."

"I know that, Edward. I really do but this is not a burden for me. I became a nurse to help people. This is what I wanted to do with my life so I will not take advantage of your situation and use this as an opportunity to get an increase in my salary," Bella said softly.

"Fine but that's okay since you'll have to move in here anyway," Edward shrugged, removing his own shoes and placing stretching out of the couch.

"I caught onto that too," Bella winced.

"Not too keen on that, huh?" Edward noted.

"No. To be honest with you, I didn't expect you to hire me right off the bat. I thought I would at the very less have to wait until you sorted through all this mess with the hospice and your siblings before you would even consider hiring me. When I came to you, it was to do the right thing. Don't get me wrong. I am really thankful that you are hiring me since I no longer have a job. I'm just thinking about getting my things in order to move in here and breaking my lease is at the top of my list," Bella muttered. "And don't you dare say you'll handle that too," she added on as Edward opened his mouth.

Snapping his mouth close, Edward smirked at the tiny brunette.

"Alright, I won't handle it. I should go and call my doctor since we can't do anything until we hear what he thinks." Edward muttered.

"Yeah and by the way since I can't and don't really want to leave, would you mind if I call my friends over to explain everything to them and get them to help me move?" Bella asked, nibbling on her lip.

"I see no problem with that. Just keep the details on what happened to my mum to a minimum," Edward agreed before he got up to take the dishes back to the kitchen.

"How can you trust me so implicitly?" Bella whispered to him.

"At first I didn't. To my knowledge, my mother was living with Emmett and had a nurse that stayed with her. I thought I was paying for everything from the nurse to her doctor and medications. In hindsight, I should not have been so trusting to the people who turned me out of the family but I could never, not even in my wildest dreams, think that my brothers and their wives would treat our mother so poorly. The video made me realize that you were telling the truth but even as I went to the hospice with you and even though I was already making arrangements to help you out legally, somewhere in the back of my mind, I still didn't believe you," Edward sighed before he continued.

"You see I was thinking about how many people were involved in this and I think you will agree with me when I say that quite a few people are involved excluding those who were already know about. Doctors. Orderlies. Nurses. All of them could have seen those bruises on her before you. She's been there for five years. Someone other than my brothers, sisters-in-law and that James character had to have seen it and no one said anything.

At a point in time, I thought that the only reason you came to me was because you were in on their little scheme and that they probably didn't pay you so now you were going to play innocent and watch things play out now just for a bit of revenge but it was my mother who wiped all those thoughts from me," Edward said sadly.

"What are you taking about?" Bella asked, completely puzzled as to how his mother did that.

"When I was going to school, there was a guy who always bullied me. He stole my lunch, my money and on one occasion, he gave me a wedge. I never said anything but my mum picked up on it. She asked my dad to talk to me. After all, what twelve year old kid wants to tell their mummy that they were being picked on? When dad talked to me about it, I denied it all, saying that I just was having a hard time with some of the school work but my mum didn't buy it. That night, she came into my room and kissed me good night. Before she left though, she point to her heart then placed her palm flat over her heart and she then pointed to my heart. After, she asked me if I knew what her motions meant. When I told her that I didn't know what she meant, she kissed my head again and told me that it meant that she will always protect me.

When we were in her room at the hospice and when you ran out the room to do whatever you were doing, she did the same thing except she first pointed to the door you had left through, placed her palm over her heart and then pointed to herself.

Even though, she can't speak, Bella, she was able to tell me that you protected her and because of that, I trust you."


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.

Chapter Five.

"We should get some sleep," Edward muttered after a few moments of silence.

"That would be nice," Bella agreed, "but I need to get my clothes from my car."

Seeing that Bella was dead on her feet, Edward offered to get the clothes for her and urged her to head over to the room next to his room. Smiling in thanks, Bella handed him the keys to her car, she told him which bag to get before slowly making her way to the room.

She inhaled deeply just as she entered the room. Her body ached in exhaustion and she truly wished that she could get a full day of rest but she knew that that was not possible. She would have to get up in a few more hours when the doctor got there.

She winced at the brightness of the room. It was only this morning when they arrived here that Bella truly saw Edward's house and even though she was absolutely sure that it was an architect's dream, the wall-length windows were going to drive her insane with all the light it let in especially since she didn't see a curtain in sight.

"Here you go," Edward whispered as he walked into the room, exhaustion coating every word.

"Thanks," she mumbled, her eyes closing as she fell back into the bed. "This is so comfy."

"Hm," Edward grunted, as he dropped the bag onto a chair in the room. "I heard back from my doctor. He'll be here by four."

"Good. We can get some sleep or at least try to get some," Bella sighed.

Realizing that the sunlight was affecting Bella, Edward walked over to the control panel near to the bed and lowered the window blinds, plunging the room into merciful darkness.

"The control panel is here. I turned up the A.C. for you because the room gets a bit warmer during the day. It's easy enough to understand so if you need to adjust the temperature or raise the blinds, you'll be able to," Edward rattled off but only when he turned to look at Bella, he realized that she already was asleep.

Chuckling, he draped a blanket over her, turned off the lights and silently left the room. Pausing outside the room, he quietly closed the door and took some time to check his phone. He was not surprised to see that he had several voice messages from his brothers and their attorneys. He simply saved them all, sending a quick message off to his attorney and then made his way into his room where his mother was thankfully still asleep.

After kissing her head softly, he made his way to his shower where he scrubbed away all of the stress that had built up over the past several hours. It was only when he felt all of his tension leave him, did he turn off the hot stream of water that had gently pounded his back. He quickly dressed in a comfortable pair of pajamas and a worn t-shirt before re-entering his room where he curled up on the bed next to his mother and fell asleep.

M***M

Hours later, Edward was awaken by a soft voice.

"Edward," Bella called, "come on. You need to get up. The doctor is here."

"What?" he muttered groggily.

"The doctor is here. At least I think it is the doctor because that's what he told me," Bella rambled.

"Bella?" Edward muttered stupidly.

"Yes, it's Bella," Bella groaned in frustration. "Now get up."

Blinking, Edward opened his eyes to see both his mother and Bella smiling at him.

"The doctor is here?" Edward asked as he sat up in the bed, rubbing the sleep from his eyes.

"Yes," Bella nodded. "He just got here and is getting his stuff from his car."

"Okay," Edward stumbled out of bed, quickly walking into his bathroom to relieve his bladder before hurrying down the stairs to meet the doctor.

"Carlisle!" Edward called as he got to the bottom of the stairs. "Thank you for coming. I really need your help."

"I'll always be there to help you, Edward. You know this," the older man smiled, reaching out to hug Edward tightly. "So what's going on? You were pretty vague on the phone."

"Remember how I told you that my family disowned me?" Edward asked as he shuffled nervously. "And how I was paying for my mother's care since her stroke?"

"Yes, I remember all of it," Carlisle nodded.

"Well apparently, my siblings and their spouses were really using this as an opportunity to steal money from me and had placed my mother in a hospice," Edward sighed, taking Carlisle's medical bag from him as they started to climb the stairs.

"And you brought her here when you found out? Not all hospice care is bad, Edward," Carlisle stated, "Though I can understand your reaction considering they were stealing from you."

"It's not the money, Carlisle. You and I both know that I don't give a damn about the money but my mother was being abused," Edward muttered, lowering his voice as they approached the door to his room.

"Abused? How?" Carlisle demanded, pulling Edward to a complete stop.

"Bella was working there and when she realized what was going on she came to me. She even brought me a video of Rosalie hitting my mother on the back of her head. She brought pictures of the bruises and copies of my mum's medical files. Bella told me that she had to give my mum stitches on her shoulder from a cut she got there but how she got the cut is a mystery," Edward whispered hurriedly. "My mother can't walk or talk and she could do all that after the stroke even though there was some paralysis on the left side of her body."

"Damn!" Carlisle swore. "Alright, let me look at her and see what I can tell you. Where are the medical files that you copied?"

"In the room," Edward nodded in the direction of his room.

"Alright," Carlisle sighed heavily before he walked into the room. "Hello again, Bella," Carlisle smiled.

"Hey Dr. Cullen," Bella smiled at him as she walked over to hand him Mrs. Masen's file. "I think you may need this."

"Thank you, dear. These will really help," Carlisle smiled at her as he reached into his suit to grab his spectacles.

It took Carlisle almost an hour to read through the file. At times he would stop and flip back a couple of pages. At one point in time, he went over to his bag and pulled out an old file all together. Unable to stand the wait, Edward disappeared minutes later, deciding to prepare a classic meal of chicken parmesan for dinner.

"Edward?" Bella called, just as he was pulling the chicken out.

"Yeah?" he answered, wiping his hands on a dish-towel before going to meet her.

"Would it be possible for you to whip up a soup for your mum? Dr. Cullen is almost done and he wants to get her settled for the evening before he talks to you," Bella asked.

"Would a cod fish and potato chowder be fine? I have some of the cod that I didn't cook yesterday and I could have that done in twenty minutes," Edward thought as he scratched the back of his head.

"Um….let me ask the doctor," Bella replied, taking off back up the stairs allowing Edward to return back to the kitchen.

There, he quickly began chopping up the herbs he would use no matter what he was cooking and placed a deep pot on the stove to warm to get started as soon as he heard back from Bella.

"He said that that would be fine," Bella said as she took a seat on a barstool. "Hearty with lots of all the good stuff she would need since she won't be able to eat much."

"You just quoted him, didn't you?" Edward chuckled as he added some garlic to the pot.

"Yup," she nodded. "He wants a few minutes alone with her so I'm here. Do you need any help?"

"No. I'm fine," Edward shook his head as he moved around, adding ingredients intermittently.

"How do you remember all those ingredients?" Bella marveled. "And how do you cut so fast without slicing you fingers off?"

"I don't remember all the ingredients. I go by the smell and taste of the dish. A carrot today will taste different to a carrot tomorrow so I change the ingredients to suit what I am cooking and I have cut my hand a lot of times," Edward stated.

After he added the potatoes to the soup to boil, Edward turned his attention to making a side dish for the chicken parmesan. Deciding on polenta, Edward spun around in the kitchen once more.

"It's like you're creating a work of art," Bella commented.

"In a way, I am. I always loved cooking and when things got tough, cooking became the way I would express my thoughts and emotions and because of that, I developed a very strict way of going about it," Edward muttered, surprised to find that he was shy about answering Bella.

"Hey, I'm not complaining. It smells great in here," she giggled.

A comfortable silence fell over the pair. Bella was transfixed by Edward and Edward was transfixed by his cooking and twenty minutes later, Edward was sliding a tray over that held his mother's soup and two glasses, one filled with juice, the other filled with water.

"Dr. Cullen wants to feed her. He says that he will be able to better see how her swallowing is and all that," Bella stated as she walked back into the kitchen.

"I thought he would do that," Edward smiled. "And I am done cooking so you can help me carry everything out. I think we'll do it buffet style.

Taking the bowl of polenta from him, Bella made her way to the dining room but was stopped by Edward.

"Maybe you should take it to the patio?" Edward suggested.

"Why?" Bella frowned.

"Because I just remembered that I never cleaned up after our dinner," Edward said shyly.

"Oh, but I did. I got up way before you and after checking in on you and your mum, I came and cleaned up," she shrugged. "I really came to find the pieces of my phone but when I saw the mess I couldn't leave it there."

"Thank you," Edward sighed. "Though you really didn't have to do that."

"But I wanted to," Bella giggled before walking off into the dining room.

Minutes later, Edward followed her in, carrying the tray of chicken parmesan in one hand and a bottle of wine in the other.

"I don't think my employer will like the idea of me drinking on the job, Edward," Bella teased but before Edward could respond, Carlisle interrupted.

"Trust me when I say, you are going to need it," Carlisle sighed heavily, dropping his bag and the two files onto the floor at the corner of the room.

"That bad?" Bella asked hesitantly.

"It's not as bad as it could have been," Carlisle nodded, taking the bottle of wine from Edward and filling a glass for himself before taking a seat.

Following, Carlisle's lead, Edward and Bella took their seats. Edward took the bottle from Carlisle and filled two glasses for both himself and Bella before turning back to Carlisle.

"There is permanent damage from the stroke," Carlisle started as he filled his plate with polenta and chicken parmesan, "but I don't believe that it is extensive. I remembered looking your mother over for you when you were at the hospital and I remember telling you that she should be alright in a couple of months. Her movements would not have been as strong but she would have had a very high quality of life.

Your mother's inability to walk is being caused my several things. Firstly, she is very weak. That leads me to believe that she was not getting the proper nutrition. She has very little muscle tone and she will need to build every bit of it back. That will take some time. She has feelings in her legs and her back so I can't see anything beyond the fact that she is simply too weak to stand on her own," Carlisle paused to take a breath and also allow Bella and Edward to take their food.

"Her inability to speak, which is the second problem of great concern, is most likely a psychological problem. At least, that is what I believe. She could speak after the stroke. I can remember her shouting at the nursing staff and security to keep you away from her. There may be something going wrong internally that I am unable to see without doing some test.

I looked at the stitches on her shoulder and they were ready to come out. The cut healed properly but it will scar. The faded bruises on her body were indeed caused through physical abuse. I took pictures for you. There are some other scars that I noticed and I took pictures of those too.

Her hearing seems to be perfect and so does her eye-sight. Her heart beat and breathing sounds are good so I really see no need for concern there. Physically, that is what I noticed. Now what I suggest it this. I want to do a full medical work up from blood test to X-rays to MRI's. The whole nine yards. I want to bring in a lot of specialists, from a nutritionist to a neurologist, to look at her so we can come up with a plan, because make no mistake Edward, you mother is in need of a lot of help. She was strong and moving about five years ago and she should not be in this situation at all considering she is only fifty-six," he rambled off.

"God damn it," Edward breathed out. "They really did a number on her."

"But she is here now and we'll help her," Bella said as soothingly as she can through she felt like she would be ill.

"But that's not the point, Bella. How long? You taped the video and you know what they wanted. How long it would have been before my mother passed away from being treated like this?" Edward whispered.

"But Bella is right, Edward," Carlisle interjected. "We'll deal with your family members after. All we need to do now is get your mum back in shape."

"You know don't you?" Edward muttered, turning his gaze on Carlisle. "You know how long she had left to live."

Instead of answering, Carlisle turned back to his food.

"Tell me, Carlisle," Edward pleaded.

"And what good would that do?" Carlisle said gently.

"None, but I need to know. How close was I to losing to my mother?" Edward begged.

Bella lowered her head, unable to look as the scene unfolded. Even with her limited medical experience, she had made her own estimations and like Carlisle, she would have preferred for Edward to not have known.

"Edward, please, I can't do that to you. That is of no consequence. Nothing will come of it. Just focus on your mother and getting her back on her feet," Carlisle pleaded.

"Tell me!" Edward roared.

"One year," Bella found herself whispering.

"What?" Edward choked out.

"Bella is right, Edward," Carlisle said gently as he looked at the pair of them with great sympathy, "With how weak your mother is, I suspect that, had Bella not acted and sought you out, your mother would have passed by the end of the year."


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.

Chapter 6.

This year.

The end of this year.

Edward's chest tightened painfully as the words kept reverberating in his head.

"Edward, come and have seat with me outside," Carlisle demanded.

Numbly, Edward did as Carlisle asked and he soon found himself leaning against the rail of his patio, desperately gulping down the chilled evening air.

The relationship between Edward and Carlisle was one that a father would share with his son but it was not a relationship that was built over night. They had met at Settle Grace Memorial hospital when his mother had been admitted for her stroke and after his mother was discharged, Carlisle wasted no time in getting to know Edward.

Immediately, Carlisle could tell that Edward had a very hard time trusting people; though it was only a year later he fully understood why that was. When Carlisle heard what had happened in Edward's life, his heart broke for the young man and while he was willing to bet that there was another side to the story, he was also very aware that every story had some truth behind it.

Now, five years later, Edward was a member of his family. His son Garett, and daughter-in-law, Kate were Edward's best friends and Edward had been declared to be his unborn grandson's godfather.

"Just breathe, Edward," Carlisle coached, having followed the man after sharing a sympathetic smile with Bella.

"One year, Carlisle," he croaked.

"But that won't happen now, Edward. She is here and we will get her better," Carlisle muttered, taking a seat on a lounger.

"I'm angry, Carlisle." Edward tugged at his hair.

"And you have a right to be angry," Carlisle agreed. "What they did to your mother was horrible but you need to bottle it for the time being."

Shaking his head, head turned to look at Carlisle. "I wasn't talking about them," he whispered. "I'm talking about myself. I should have seen this, Carlisle. I should have expected this from them."

"If I was not so tired and not so old, I would punch you right now, Edward," Carlisle spat. "How could you have seen this coming?"

"I was paying for this, Carlisle. Me. My money. I should have been more involved in my mother's care." Edward sat down onto the wooden floors with his knees bent and his arms draped over them.

"How, Edward? How could you have been more involved? They blocked you at every turn and your biggest opposition to you helping your mother was your mother herself. She didn't want you near her. You did what you could," Carlisle threw back.

"I could have followed the money trail. I could have done something," Edward sighed as he dropped his head back, his eyes fixed on the scattered stars above.

"Could have. Should have. Would have," Carlisle whispered. "But you did. The leap of faith you took when Bella showed up here, Edward…not many people would do that. They would take their time before acting but you just jumped right in. Hindsight is twenty-twenty but you truly care and you have always and will always do right by your mother. What's Jason saying?"

"That he put together a team. He said he would pass by tomorrow to get all the files and pictures together. What he's concerned about is Bella. Though she did the right thing, she may face some repercussions. He wants to see her contract," Edward sighed. "What do you think of her?" Edward asked.

"I think Bella is something special," Carlisle said, looking back at the house. "She has her head on straight. I can tell you that she didn't become a nurse for a paycheck."

"I'll have to call Garett up. I'll want to remodel a room for Mum. Make things easier for her," Edward sighed.

Chuckling, Carlisle rolled his eyes. "I guarantee you that you and Garett will not be talking about any remodeling until my daughter-in-law calls Garett to get home but you really shouldn't go through all of that. At least not yet."

"You really don't like my mother, don't you?" Edward sighed.

"It's not that I don't like her, Edward. That does not mean that I like her either. I don't understand her actions, Edward. As a parent, I can understand not understanding your child's choice but to turn you out….to allow your siblings to turn you out," Carlisle shook his head, "I can't understand that. Your mother made a choice the day of your father's will reading but grief does not excuse her actions in the months that followed. When she got the stroke, you were there, every minute of every day and she took pleasure in tearing you down bit by bit. Do you know the nurses began to draw straws to see who would attend to your mother because none of them wanted to do it? All of the nurses, hell even the doctors, wanted to keep you away from her yet none of them could because you wouldn't listen. I saw you sit there day after day and took every bit of her tongue lashing and bore it all with a smile. In the week that your mother was at the hospital, your siblings never came to see her and on the day she was released, you had to ask us to call them to come get her because she refused to go with you. I mean, do you still have the scar from the bowl she threw at you? Dr. Banner had to hold back his wife from slapping your mother. She just had a stroke. She couldn't even stand properly yet she had the strength to throw a bowl at you because you told Dr. Banner that you were planning to take her home with you."

Shaking his head, Edward looked back at Carlisle. "But she still is my mother. Even if she hates me and wishes the worst for me, I will still do right by her."

"I'm not saying that you shouldn't do that. I am not trying to stop you from remodeling to suit your mother's needs. I think you should wait until we run the test and have a better understanding of what is going on before you start fixing the room. What I am also saying is that while she is your mother, you need to remind yourself that you are her son. Do not forget yourself in the equation and as a mother, she was wrong. She was very wrong to have treated you the way she did. A mother's love is said to be the greatest love there is and a widow's grief should not have been strong enough to erase a love so strong, so do not give her a free pass. I will stand by you one hundred percent and I will help you in any way I can to get your mother back on her feet, both as a doctor and as the man who considers you to be like son but know that I will be standing between you and your mother in any way I can to keep you safe from her."

"Carlisle….."Edward started but he was once again interrupted.

"No. Don't Carlisle me. After your mother left the hospital with your brothers, I watched you pack up your bag and I watched the sadness in your eyes as you walked out that hospital. The grief was crushing you and that's why I made the promise that I did; that nothing will hurt you again. That is why I took you into my family….into our lives because in that moment, I knew that I would kill to have you as my son. It was easy to get to know you, Edward. It was easier to fall in love with you. As a father, I am proud of you. As a man, I am proud of you. Never forget that."

Smiling, Edward walked over to Carlisle and pulled his adopted father into a warm hug though unknown to either man, Esme Masen had heard every word and for the first time since her husband's passing, she cried for what she had done to her son.


	7. Chapter 7

Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.

Chapter Seven.

Bella pressed her forehead onto the chilled marble countertops in Edward's kitchen, desperately hoping that the chill would either wake her up or at least sooth the pounding in her head.

It had been a long night with little to no sleep.

It was a little after eleven, the night before when she went to check on Esme before retiring for the night, with the secret hope of getting some sleep but that hope went flying out the window when she found the older woman soundlessly sobbing into her pillow. Immediately thinking that something was physically wrong with her, she began to check the woman over, all the while pleading with her to at least gesture to her about what was wrong.

Finding nothing wrong, she sprinted back down the stairs in a panic, hoping that Carlisle was still there. She almost cried out in relief when she spotted the doctor still on the porch sharing a laugh with Edward. She rudely interrupted the men's conversation when she blurted out that something was wrong with Esme.

Edward was quick to jump to his feet, ready to run to his mother's side but was stopped by Carlisle who said he wanted to check on Esme alone. With a grunt of reluctance, Edward found himself leading a shivering Bella to the living room where they impatiently waited to hear what was wrong with Esme.

Carlisle thanked the heavens above that neither Edward nor Bella was around to see the exchange between him and Esme. They did not see the way her eyes lowered in shame when he walked in, nor did they hear the scoff of disgust Carlisle shot at Esme. They certainly did not see him close the tiny window in the corner of Edward's room that he had opened that just happened to be above the patio where Carlisle and Edward had their conversation.

After giving Esme a sedative for the night, Carlisle left after telling Edward and Bella to get some sleep themselves but only Edward was able to fall asleep.

Bella stayed awake for the entire night, periodically checking on Esme and even Edward and now, at six in the morning, her body ached in exhaustion.

She knew today would be another long day. Edward had reminded her before he retired for the night that his attorneys would be there early in the morning and she still needed to inform her family about what had occurred over the past couple of days and get a copy of her contract but at that moment, all she wanted to do was take a hot shower, eat a hot meal, read some smutty fanfiction and then fall asleep, buried underneath a plush blanket in a comfortable bed.

Groaning, she lifted her head back up and rolled her shoulders, trying desperately to keep herself up even though she had already seen about Esme for the morning. She had her own business to see about and she was just waiting for it to be a suitable time before she made all the necessary calls.

Sliding her body off the barstool, she made her way over to the coffee machine and filled her mug for a second time that morning and after blowing on it a few time, she took a sip of the strong brew, not even wincing at the bitterness of it.

After a few more sips and a loud yawn, she shuffled her way into the living room, pausing to grab the cordless phone she had seen on a side table and then dropped herself down onto the couch. Tucking her legs beneath her, she draped a blanket over her lap and placed her coffee mug within her reach before dialing her parent's telephone number.

Two rings later, her father's deep voice filtered through the phone.

"Hello?"

"Daddy?" Bella said in a small voice, tears instantly filling her eyes.

"Bella? Bella? Renee, Bella is on the phone!" Charlie Swan called out before talking to his daughter again. "Bells, where the hell are you?"

"Oh God, Dad. I did something that will cause me some problems," Bella whispered as she wiped away a tear that fell onto her cheek just as her mother picked up on another line.

"Bella, baby girl, are you okay? Are you hurt? Tell us where you are and we'll be there soon," her mother, Renee rattled off, her concern evident with every word.

"Hey, Mama and no I'm not hurt but I need to talk to you both. Remember how you always told me that I have a knack for making decisions based on my emotions and that are not very intellectual?" Bella started.

"Baby girl, what did you do?" Renee gasped.

"Remember I started work at the hospice?" Bella whispered. "Well, I found out that one of the patients there was being mistreated and the person who was paying for her care was being robbed blind."

"Bella, I don't understand…"Renee trailed off, her voice trembling.

"Mum, I don't know how much I can tell you," Bella whispered but before she could say anything else, the phone was taken from her hand.

Jumping up, she whirled around to see Edward smiling tiredly back at her as he took the phone, placed it on speaker and gently rested it on the table in front of the both of them before he began to talk to Bella's parents.

"Mr. and Mrs. Swan, my name is Edward Cullen and I am the man who your daughter just said was being robbed blind. I will tell you everything if you could just bear with me a bit," Edward stated, taking a seat next to Bella.

"Who the hell do you think you are to just butt into the conversation I was just having with my child? Bella, is this man hurting you in anyway? Are you making up some story to protect this man?" Charlie growled in his signature Chief Swan voice.

"Dad, please. I'm not making up anything," Bella pleaded. "And Edward isn't hurting me. He is actually helping me."

"Charlie, let's just hear them out," Renee pleaded softly, no doubt trying to calm her husband down. "Edward, can you tell us what is going on?"

"I certainly can, Ma'am. Ma'am, two nights ago, your daughter showed up at my door with evidence showing that my mother, who was in hospice care, was being mistreated. At first I didn't believe her because to my knowledge, I thought that my mother was living with one of my brothers and that I was paying for a nurse to live with her at my brother's house. However, I decided to hear her out because as I said, she came and was talking about my mother and I was not willing to take the chance that something horrible was going on. I can't remember exactly what was said but I do remember when she showed me a video that she captured which showed me exactly what was going on. In that video, I saw one of my brother's wives hitting my mother on her head and I heard how my brothers, their wives and the man who is running the hospice had been stealing over ten thousand dollars a month from me.

That night, Bella accompanied me to get my mother from that hospice and she has been helping me ever since," Edward said softly.

"Bella, is that true?" Her father asked after a few minutes of silence.

"Yeah," Bella whispered.

"But what you did was right. Why do you think it will be a problem?" Renee asked.

"My contract with the hospice," Bella said weakly.

"Don't think about it," Renee tsked. "You have done the right thing. If there is a legal backlash, then we will deal with that when the time comes. Edward, how is your mother?"

"A lot of damage had been done to her body," Edward sighed. "The road to recovery for her will be a long one but thankfully, Bella has agreed to stay on as her nurse. I do have to say this though, Mr. and Mrs. Swan, it's not simply the contract that is worrying me. I must tell you this though, this is not a simple battle about the various clauses in a contract but a war that has been brewing for a very long time in my family and unfortunately, Bella has been pulled into the middle of it."

"What do you mean, Edward?" Charlie asked.

"What I mean is that there is one thing my brother love more than anything in this world and that is money. They do not care how they get it or what they must do to get it. They will do anything to get it and I am now threatening to take all of it away from them. Because of what you daughter found out, they are now ten thousand dollars poorer every month so you can bet your entire retirement fund on the fact that they will do everything in their power to destroy Bella's career and her reputation. You can rest assured though that I will do everything I can to keep that from happening. My attorneys will be here in a couple of hours and we will do whatever it takes to protect Bella." Edward said so passionately that Bella could not help but smile shyly at him.

"Oh dear God!" Renee whispered after a few moments of silence.

"Bella, we will be there by tomorrow," Charlie hissed, "because I don't like this. I don't like any of this."

"Dad, wait!" Bella exclaimed only to be stopped by her mother.

"No, Bella. Your father and I will be there by tomorrow. This isn't good at all." Renee interjected.

"Mum, Dad, I know that I can't stop you from coming but I need something before you get here. Dad, remember I sent you a scanned copy of my contract? Well, I need you to send it to me," Bella said.

"Okay. I'll get that to you as soon as we get off the phone but Bella does the fact that you are going to work as a nurse for Edward's mother mean that you will be living with Edward?" Charlie asked hesitantly.

"Of course she has to live with them, Charlie," Renee sighed in exasperation. "It's not like she is going there to make babies with the boy. She's going there to work. Would you like us to help move your things into Edward's home when we get there tomorrow, baby girl?" Renee asked sweetly, ignoring the way her husband was choking on the other line.

"I was planning on asking Jake and Angela to help me because I won't be able to leave Mrs. Cullen alone," Bella said softly.

"Don't worry about it then. I'll call them and explain it all to them," Renee said.

"Okay," Bella sighed. "I'll see you then. Bye dad. Bye mum."

"Bye sweetheart and remember this, Bella. You did the right thing. Regardless of what happens, you did the right thing. See you tomorrow," Renee said softly before ending the call.

"Well that last bit was interesting," Edward muttered after a few minutes of silence.

"Sorry about that. My dad goes a bit loony whenever a guy is going to be in close proximity to me," Bella apologized with a giggle.

"They sound like awesome parents," Edward smiled. "You look exhausted, Bella. Did you sleep at all?"

"No," she shook her head. "I was up with your mum all morning. At four this morning, she got up and I cleaned her up and fed her some oatmeal and fruits and she drank a bit of juice before she fell back to sleep."

"Why don't you get some sleep then?" Edward suggested.

"I'm waiting for your attorneys. Aren't they going to be here in a while?" Bella asked, taking a sip of her now cold coffee.

"Not for a long while. Go ahead and take a nap and Mum needs you, I'll wake you up," Edward offered.

"Are you sure?" Bella asked uncertainly.

"Yes. Now go," Edward smiled.

"Okay. Thank you, Edward," Bella muttered before heading up the stairs and within minutes of sliding into bed, Bella was dead to the world, so dead that she never saw Edward leaning against the door frame in her room wondering why he was so protective of her because while his head told him he was doing what he was doing in thanks for Bella saving his mother, he still could not explain why his heart raced every time she smiled.


	8. Chapter 8

Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.

Chapter 8.

"Ms. Denali, if I have to tell you one more time to button up your shirt and stop giggling like a pre-pubescent school girl swooning over her latest Justin Bieber poster, I will fire you so fast that it will make your head spin," Marcus Acker's spat, his voice cracking like a whip in the early hours of the evening.

At sixty-two, Marcus was a man with very little patience. Unprofessionalism and a lack of knowledge for any legal matter being handled by his law firm would lead to the offending person being fired immediately. He lived by the saying that it was better to ask forgiveness than beg for permission. He was a cutthroat lawyer who did what he needed to do for his client and that was what made him the best of the very best.

For him, the last forty-eight hours had been the best of his life. He was in his element since that early morning call that came from one of his biggest clients, Mr. Edward Cullen. He had been on the phone since then calling on private investigators, waking up his staff and ordering them into the office by six that morning, only sending them home when they looked like they would die from exhaustion.

As he stood outside, waiting for entry into Mr. Cullen's house, he threw a critical eye over an entire team of nine people, from paralegals to senior partners at the firm, who all fidgeted under his glare. Was it overkill to bring so many people with him? Yes but when it was Edward Cullen you were dealing with, you had better do much more than was expected.

"Good," the elderly man nodded in approval before ringing the doorbell. "And remember if you one of you mess up, consider yourself fired."

Before another word could be said though, the door to the house, revealing the petite frame of a young woman.

"Mr. Acker?" she asked softly.

"Yes, Ms. I am here to see Mr. Cullen," Marcus said somewhat impatiently.

"Right this way," she smiled, not at all intimidated by the portly man even going so far as to hold out her hand to shake his. "I'm Isabella Swan by the way."

"So you are the beauty that has caused such excitement in my life?" Marcus asked, taken Bella's much smaller hand in his.

"Yes, she is." Edward's smooth voice reached him as he stepped up behind Bella, his hand on the small of her back. "Mr. Acker," Edward acknowledged.

"Mr. Cullen," Marcus nodded, releasing Bella's hand to shake Edward's.

"Come, we can meet in the dining room," Edward gestured, pulling away from Bella to lead Marcus and his team into the correct room while Bella remained behind to close the door behind them all.

"Please have a seat and help yourself to the refreshments on the table," Edward gestured as he rolled up the sleeves of his snug-fitting dark blue shirt and took a seat at the head of the table with Marcus taking the seat opposite him.

Bella walking in a bit later with Edward's laptop in her hands, ensuring that she slipped by Marcus so that she could quietly handed him the printed copy of her contract before walking over to take a seat next to Edward.

"Shall we get started then?" Marcus asked rhetorically as he quickly read through the contract that Bella had just handed him.

"Certainly," Edward nodded, leaning forward, steepling his fingers together in front of him as he rested his elbow on the arm of his chair, causing the sleeves of his shirt to slide down some more to reveal the ends of his tattoos.

"Ms. Swan, with regards to this contract, from what I am reading here, there is absolutely no ground on which your former employers can build any type of case against you. This contract is very basic. No fact finder be it a judge or jury will find their case sympathetic especially if you have a video that actually depicts the abuse. Do you have a copy of the video?" Marcus asked without looking up from the contract.

"Yes, I do," Bella said softly before reaching for Edward's laptop. "Unlock it for me please?" Bella whispered to Edward. "I emailed myself a copy when I recorded it."

"Thank God for that, hm?" Edward chuckled, leaning across the table to enter his password.

"Yup. You still owe me a phone, Cullen," Bella teased, quickly loading the video and passing it down to Marcus.

Acting on purely instinct, Edward reached out and took one of Bella's hands in his. He knew even if he did not see the video, the conversation that he was to once again hear, would send him spiraling into a fit of rage.

"Edward," Bella whispered, trying to pull his attention to her just as she noted how his grip on her hands began to tighten. "Your mum is safe and in bed. She just ate and is watching a _Golden Girl _marathon…..a marathon she chose to watch. Remember how she pulled away the control from your hand when you were going to change the channel? She has the bell. If she needs anything, she will ring it. She is strong enough to do that and she will keep getting stronger."

"You're right," Edward whispered back. "Let's get this over with."

"Not so fast, Mr. Cullen," Marcus called. "After watching this, this matter may be a little more complicated."

"In what sense?" Edward narrowed his eyes at the man.

"Police involvement," Marcus said bluntly, nodding to one of the young interns to come and take a copy of the video he had just watched.

"I am not following you, Mr. Acker."

"This hospice needs to be shut down. Would you agree with that statement?" Marcus said.

"I do," Edward nodded. "But I am more concerned with dealing with my brothers, their wives and that James character."

"Yes, but to get to them we have to go through the hospice and for that we need the police to get involved."

"I thought they already are," Edward hissed.

"No, Mr. Cullen," one of the senior lawyers said, "From what we understand, there has been no talk about this at any precinct yet. If you were told that the police were already involved, then that was an idle threat."

Sighing heavily, Edward pinched the bridge of his nose.

"So what are you saying then? For me to have substantial grounds for me to get a little payback, I have to wait on some cops?"

"No, Edward," Bella muttered, having caught on to what the lawyers were saying. "I think they are asking you to be patient."

"Patient? Patient!" Edward roared, his eyes becoming a smoldering emerald fire. "I want them to pay and I want that done now."

"Edward, be reasonable," Bella pleaded. "They can't do things half-assed and you know it. They will work fast but if you rush things then you may never get what you want done."

"Bella….."Edward started to say but was stopped when Bella shock his head.

"No, Edward. I want them to pay as much as you do. What they did to you mother is unforgiveable but doing something without thinking it true at this stage is foolish," Bella reasoned. "You know that."

"How long are we talking, Mr. Acker?" Edward asked after a few minutes.

"A month or two just to establish a legal foundation to go after them," came the quick response.

"You have two months but you do have some things to do for me in the meantime," Edward stated.

"Such as?"

"Restraining orders against my family for my mother and for Ms. Swan here."

"Not for you as well?" Mr. Acker asked with a raised eyebrow.

"No. I don't mind facing off with them. I would like to beat the hell out of my brothers if given the opportunity," Edward shrugged.

"We have this video that will be enough to get a TRS for your mother, Mr. Cullen but it will be a bit of a stretch for Ms. Swan," one of the senior lawyers said.

"I don't care what you have to do," Edward growled. "Just get it done."

"Anything else?" Marcus asked.

"Yes, an employment contract for Ms. Swan for a period of a year for the terms of her contract to be renegotiated whenever she feels to need for it," Edward said as he looked at the young woman who looked back at him with narrowed eyes.

"Edward…" Bella hissed.

"Salary figure?" Mr. Acker asked, signaling to his interns to note what was being said.

"Five thousand a month. She will be living here as well," Edward continued.

"Anything else?" Mr. Acker asked.

"Yes but I wish for that to be said between only the two of us," Edward said, looking pointedly at the other lawyers present.

"Very well. You all can go out to the car," Marcus ordered his people out.

"I'll walk them out," Bella whispered and stood and followed them out.

Edward waited a few minutes to ensure that they were truly on their own before speaking.

"Emmett called this morning again. Their threats are getting more violent to the point that I am considering moving Bella and my mother out of here," Edward informed the older man.

"What did he say this time?" Marcus growled.

"He threatened my life," Edward shrugged.

"You seem unconcerned," Marcus noted.

"No. I am very concerned but I also expected it," he explained.

"So how can I help?" Marcus noted.

"I want to make a call to them in your presence. They won't know you are here but they jabber on and on and I want you to get a sense of what I need your help with," Edward admitted.

"Very well," Marcus nodded. "Call them."

Nodding, Edward reached for his phone and dialed Jasper's number.

"What do you want?" Jasper spat in lieu of a greeting.

"I just wanted to call and see what you were up to…to see if you were sharping the knife that Emmett wants to slit my throat with?" Edward said in a blasé manner.

"So you do listen to our voicemails. Is that what we have to do to get you on your phone? Threaten your life?" Jasper spat. "I am going to enjoy fucking you over. Destroy your little empire brick by brick, you little prick."

"Whatever you say, Jasper," Edward rolled his eyes.

"You don't seem too worried, Edward." Emmett's voice joined Jasper's.

"No, I'm not. You can kill me if you want so that instead of having your mother's blood on your hands, you'll have mine," Edward taunted.

"I'm going to destroy you. You hear me," Emmett roared.

"You can try," Edward rebutted.

"What do you mean by that?"

"What I mean is this….I have dedicated most of the past years studying you and your family, Jasper and I have become very good at understanding your needs and motivations and because of that I can anticipate your next move and that next move you want to make…..I would really not do that."

"What are you talking about, you little shit? You don't know anything!"

"So it wasn't you who was trying to pay off several of my waitresses to go to the police and say that I raped them?" Edward threw out and a dark chuckle escaped his lips as silence followed his words.

"So since your move was just foiled how about I make one move of my own. Emmett, why don't you ask you wife who Dimka is. I'll give you a hint. You pay him to be your wife's fitness coach and trust me when I say that one muscle of becoming very loose because of him. He's very big and he's not known to be gentle," Edward ended the call with a smirk.

"I was really hear to keep you out of trouble, wasn't I? Marcus asked with a smirk.

"I knew if I was going to say anything that could legally get me in trouble that you would have ended the call," Edward shrugged.

"Life really has been much more fun since I have taken you on as a client," Marcus nodded as he stood.

"I am sure your back account loves it more," Edward chuckled.

"But I do have to say one thing, Edward…..have you ever wondered what caused your siblings to turn on you in such a manner and to hate you with such passion?"

"No, I never thought about it. I just accepted things as they were and learned to live with it," Edward shrugged.

"Maybe we should look into that," Marcus suggested but before either men could say anything else, Bella popped back into the room with a worried look in her eyes.

"Everything okay, Bella?" Edward asked, taking in the way she was biting on her lower lip.

"Not really," Bella responded.

"What do you mean by 'not really'?" Edward pushed.

"Um…..my parents are here."


End file.
